


Fly Your Way Home

by reedyas



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Beth centric, F/M, Fluff, Post - Terminus, Reunion, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 14:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1554065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reedyas/pseuds/reedyas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post - Terminus reunion fic - Beth finds her way back to the ones she loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly Your Way Home

Rays of sunlight illuminated the once dark green leaves of the forest, casting an earthly glow throughout the trees. Beth swung her machete through thick foliage, the humidity causing her tank top to stick to her back. Perspiration ran down her legs under her dark green cargo pants, but she knew they were a necessity. The nights were cold and the walkers always grasped for ankles.

Her feet were covered in blisters and her hands were hardened with calluses from the handle of her knife. There was an ever present thirst itching in her throat, crawling its way up and drying her tongue. She didn’t know if she could even speak anymore.

Beth accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to make it out here much longer. Maybe the nothingness that came after death was going to be an improvement from the hell that had taken over Earth. She wasn’t sure where God was, maybe He left. 

The snapping of a twig disturbed her thoughts, she pressed herself against a tree, her ears straining to hear what was out there.

“How far out did he say the traps were?” a female voice asked a bit too loudly. Beth rolled her eyes. Walkers could probably hear them from a mile away.

“Don’t remember, but they couldn’t be too far,” a man responded, the branches and leaves breaking loudly under his step.

“Do you think they’re still looking for us?” the woman asked, breathing heavily. They had stopped walking, and Beth heard the swish of water in a canteen. Her throat felt as if it was on fire.

“I wouldn’t bet on it, we’re too far away,” the man replied. “Come on, we’d better get going.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Beth noticed some dark movement in the trees. She was able to make out a small herd of walkers shuffling towards them, way more than two people could handle.

“Shit,” she croaked under her breath. She wasn’t about to let these idiots be eaten alive, she was better than that. She was better than the men that had took her. “Hey!” she called sharply, coming out from behind her tree and swinging at a walker that was close to her.

A tall man with an overgrown red mustache and a shorter woman around her age looked over at her in alarm, finally noticing the walkers. They pulled out knives of their own, smaller than hers, and began stabbing the walkers through their eye sockets.

It seemed as if time stopped when you were killing the dead. It used to make Beth sick to her stomach, but know the blood on her machete seemed to act as a lubricant and killing walkers was easier. 

She swung one more time into the skull of what was once an old man, kicking the corpse to the ground. She pulled the machete out of his crushed brains and wiped the blade on a nearby tree trunk.

“So, I think you kind of just saved our asses,” the woman laughed nervously, eyes still wide with fear.

“We owe you our lives,” the man said, meeting her eyes solemnly. “My name is Abraham Ford and this is Tara Chambler.” He stuck out his hand.

Beth rolled her eyes internally. “’M Beth. Beth Greene,” she introduced herself with a hoarse voice, shaking her hand.

“Here, have some water.” Tara handed her a canteen. Beth took a few sips, the lukewarm water bringing an incredible relief to her throat.

“Thank you so much.” she smiled tightly and handed back the water reluctantly. 

“Are you with a group?” Abraham asked, crossing his arms.

Beth shook her head. “Not anymore.”

“You’ve been out here all by yourself?” Tara raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That’s amazing.”

Beth shrugged. “’S been hard. I can manage by myself.” She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, pushing back the memory of a time when she told Daryl that she wouldn’t need him one day. She looked up at the two of them and nodded. “Stay safe,” she said quietly, turning around and started to walk in the opposite direction.

“Wait!” Tara called and followed her. “The least we can do is give you some food, maybe stay the night with us. The group we’re with – they’re good people. We escaped from Terminus. Now, I don’t know how long you’ve been in the area, but that place is… is…” she trailed off, clearly not wanting to talk about it any further. “Please. Let us thank you.”

Beth met Tara’s eyes with a hard stare. She had heard of Terminus, had seen the signs that Maggie left for Glenn. They may not have made it out. Her head was telling her not to trust anyone, but something in her gut told her otherwise. Maybe it was the earnest look in Tara’s eyes or her extreme hunger, but she knew what she had to do. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll come with you.”

Tara smiled. “Great! You don’t have to worry, we won’t take your weapons and you can leave whenever you want.”

Beth nodded as the group began hiking. She was more alert than ever, staying behind Abraham and Tara and keeping an eye out for walkers.

“Maybe you can talk to Rick. If he likes you, you can join their group if you don’t want to come to D.C. with us. It’ll be up to you,” Abraham called over his shoulder.

Beth’s stomach dropped at “Rick.” _Surely there were other leaders of groups named Rick… It would be too good to be true if it was…_ She didn’t let herself think about it. “We’ll see,” she replied instead, adjusting her machete in its sheath on her belt.

As they trekked through the wood, the girl, Tara, Beth reminded herself, tried to strike up a conversation. “So, where were you headed? It’s pretty strange for someone to be out by themselves,” Tara asked, slowing down to walk beside her.

“North,” Beth replied. _That’s where Daryl and I were going._ “That’s where my group was going.”

Tara nodded, giving her a sympathetic smile. It was nice to know that she didn’t ask too many questions.

“We’re almost there. Hopefully Daryl caught more game than we did,” Abraham said after a period of silence. 

Beth’s stomach dropped once more. She felt her breath hitch as she tried to stay focused on putting one boot in front of the other. It would do no good to get her hopes up for someone who may not even be alive.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Tara sighed loudly. “Any luck?” She called as the group crossed into a small clearing.

Beth felt her knees wobble as she saw a familiar figure. A man with dark shaggy hair and a crossbow slung over his shoulder was walking towards them. Her heart clenched when she realized that this wasn’t some hallucination or dream – it was real.

Daryl Dixon squinted into the sun as he looked at the group. “I was wonderin’ when y’all were gonna show up. Thought you’d gotten yerselves lost.”

“Nah, we ran into a bit of trouble with some walkers. We were lucky this young lady was here with us.” Abraham gestured to Beth, who had stopped walking. 

Daryl’s eyes scanned across the three of them and met Beth’s eyes. He stood still momentarily, dumbfounded. He slid his crossbow off of his shoulder and let it drop to the ground. “Sonofabitch,” he laughed weakly, a small smile beginning to form in his eyes and the corners of his mouth.

“Oh my God,” Beth let out the breath she was holding and dropped her knife, running towards him as fast as her legs could carry her. They crashed into each other’s arms, Beth wrapping hers around his neck and Daryl encircling her waist. He picked her up slightly and squeezed her tightly.

She was weeping, she realized, weeping into the crook his neck. She distantly heard him yelling _“Get Maggie and Glenn!”_ but she was too busy focusing on the fact that Daryl was _here_ and _alive_ and _he was holding her_ and this was _real._ She felt him bury his face into her hair and his fingers grasping the sides of her cotton tank top. 

He pulled back a bit and cupped her face, his deep blue eyes searching intently. “Are you hurt?” he muttered. “What happened? Why’re you crying?”

“I’m crying because I’m happy, Daryl.” She smiled through her tears, failing at stifling another sob. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Swiping a thumb across her cheekbone, his mouth opened and quickly closed. His eyes had lost their usual hardness as he let out a shaky breath. “Jesus Christ girl,” he whispered and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You were right,” he murmured. “I missed ya so much. So fuckin' much.”

Beth laughed, pulling him down to kiss away the tear on his cheek. She met his eyes and almost collapsed at the tenderness she saw. They leaned their foreheads against one another’s and pretended as if they weren’t crying.

She was suddenly pulled away from their embrace and was crushed into her sister’s sobbing form. “Oh my God Bethy, oh my God…” Maggie sobbed. Beth wrapped her arms around her sister and clutched onto her jacket.

The rest of the night passed in a daze. She was passed into the arms of Glenn and Carol, held Judith for the first time in what felt like years, and cried happy tears.  
Happy tears. She didn’t believe those still existed.

That night, they feasted on squirrel and canned peaches while huddling around a fire. She sat in between Daryl and Maggie, letting her knee rest against Daryl. She attempted to subtly steal glances up at him, but always caught his eye anyways. 

She listened to the horror story that was Terminus, and how Carol and Tyreese helped them escape. She cried when she heard how Maggie and Glenn found each other. She didn’t talk about her time when she was separated from the rest of them, it was still too raw. Somehow in the midst of conversation, her hand found Daryl’s. He looked down at their intertwined fingers, a confused expression on his face.

Leaning over to his ear, Beth whispered, “Don’t push me away. I need you right now.”

Daryl swallowed visibly and nodded slightly, giving her hand a squeeze.

As the moon climbed higher into the night sky, Beth felt herself begin to nod off, laying her head on Daryl’s shoulder. Everyone was retiring to their tarp beds and sleeping bags as the fire died down. 

“Beth, let’s go to bed,” Maggie yawned, standing up and offering her hand. 

“I’m going to stay up for a little while,” she replied softly, rubbing her thumb over Daryl’s knuckles lightly.

Maggie sighed, a smile teasing the corner of her mouth. “Sleep well,” she said quietly and walked over to her and Glenn’s bed.

“Y’should get some sleep,” Daryl mumbled, looking down at their hands.

“This is the first night I’ve felt safe since the funeral home. I’m going to enjoy this until we start running again,” Beth yawned. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Course not.”

“Good.”

They sat quietly in the dark, the weak fire illuminating sleeping bodies and tall trees. Beth hugged her knees and leaned on Daryl’s shoulder once again, earning an almost silent chuckle. “I missed you,” she murmured, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Daryl grunted. “D’ya wanna talk about it?”

Beth shook her head. “No. Not right now. Right now I want to just be Beth and Daryl, is that okay?”

Daryl nodded and kissed her forehead. Beth knew everything was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the equivalent of me sending _Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want_ by The Smiths to the writers of TWD. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
